


hope is the thing with feathers

by katertran



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Hair Brushing, Happy Ending, POV Catra (She-Ra), Post-Canon, Wrestling, just a bit though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24356092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katertran/pseuds/katertran
Summary: Just some domestic catradora. Catra's growing her hair out and is having trouble maintaining it. Obviously Adora is happy to help.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 201





	hope is the thing with feathers

Catra sits on a stool in her room in Castle Bright Moon, staring at herself in a large vanity mirror. In the months after Adora saved Etheria, she had been slowly adjusting to a peaceful life. For the first time, she could make her own decisions, and she was intent on finally allowing herself to be happy. Her hair, which she had kept long for most of her life, had been forcefully sheered by Horde Prime. Seeing herself with the shorter hairstyle made her feel nauseous at the memory of it, and she hadn’t been able to look in the mirror for months after.

Her hair had unfortunately grown very slowly, and after 6 months, it had only grown to be just above her shoulders. She frowned at herself in the mirror, the length still too short for comfort. The one upside to having short hair had been much easier maintenance. She hadn’t needed to even use a brush on it yet, as she had been able to comb through it with her fingers. However, as it grew longer and started to revert to its more naturally curly state, this was becoming much harder to do. Her hair was also incredibly thick, something she had nearly forgotten about in the time it had taken to grow back, and this made it difficult to maintain on her own. In the Fright Zone, she had had her team to help her with it. Now she’s loath to ask for help, not wanting anyone to see her struggle with such an easy task.

However, as days pass and she continues to go about her routine as usual, it’s becoming abundantly clear that she’s unable to maintain it. As she lets it go, it’s only becoming more tangled and unkempt looking, and she knows others are starting to notice. The number of weird looks and side glances she’s been getting have been growing, and she’s getting sick of it. She knows all she needs to do is brush her hair, but every time she sits at the vanity and gets a good look at it, the task at hands seems more and more insurmountable.

Melog sits at her feet while she turns her head this way and that in front of the mirror, taking in just how bad it really is. She feels the tangles all over her hair and braces for the pain of forcing them out. The longer this goes on, the more hopeless it feels. Melog meows at her and puts his head on her foot, anchoring her in place. “Look, I know I have to do it, you don’t have to keep telling me” Catra says, looking down at Melog annoyed. Melog meows again but doesn’t move, and Catra sighs heavily. She had thought about simply cutting it and starting over, but just the idea of scissors snipping away the new hair she had spent so long growing turns her stomach, and she quickly decides against it.

Catra stares at the brush in front of her for a long time before finally picking it up and feeling it in her hands. There had been several kinds of brushes tucked away in the many drawers of the vanity, but this one had been closest to what she had used before. She takes the brush in her right hand and moves it to the bottom of the left side if her hair. She takes the upper part of her hair in her left hand to keep it in place and starts to brush out the very first tangles. Despite her best efforts at minimizing the pain, the brush pulls hard at her hair as it faces the stubborn resistance, and the pain in her scalp is excruciating. She stops after just a few seconds and takes a moment to breathe. She continues brushing through the pain and is able to untangle a small section of the bottom of her hair before she’s forced to stop. There are the beginnings of tears in her eyes, but she forces them back and takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

There’s a light knock at her door, and Catra throws the brush down in surprise. “Just a sec!” she yells at the door as she quickly moves away from the vanity and attempts to look nonchalant. Adora peeks her head through the door and looks around the room. She spots Catra standing in the center of the room and smiles at her, closing the door behind her. As she walks towards where Catra stands, she stops and raises an eyebrow at her playfully, putting one hand on her hip. “Did I interrupt something? You look really out of breath” Adora says jokingly. “Almost makes me think you’re trying to hide something from me.”

Catra gives a short laugh, but it comes out much more awkwardly than she hoped for. At this, Adora’s face falls slightly and she starts to look a bit more concerned. “Were you actually doing something? I didn’t mean to intrude” Adora says, seriously this time. “No! I wasn’t doing anything!” Catra says in a rush, which she immediately knows sounds suspicious. Adora turns to look at Melog, who hasn’t moved in the short time since Catra stood. Adora looks at her knowingly, as they both know Melog follows Catra everywhere and wouldn’t have sat below the vanity if she hadn’t been there. Catra anxiously realizes that she hadn’t put the brush away, and she knows exactly what’s coming.

“What’s so bad about brushing your hair? It really could use it” Adora says. She says it matter-of-factly, but in a tone that they both know means that she understands that this is why Catra is anxious. “Do you want some help?”

“No, I’m fine, I got it” Catra says, turning to put the brush away. Adora moves to stand beside her and places her hand on Catra’s before she can open the drawer. “Come on, let me help” Adora says, a small smile on her face, “It’ll be just like old times. You can brush mine too if you want.”

Catra searches her face for a moment before sitting on the stool again. She knows she’s not going to be getting out of this. Once Adora sets her mind to something, no one can tell her otherwise. Melog puts his head on Catra’s foot again and purrs quietly.

Adora runs her fingers through Catra’s hair as best she can, and Catra winces as her fingers find resistance. In the mirror, she sees Adora wince slightly as well, and this is all she needs to know to understand how bad it really is. Adora catches her eye in the mirror and gives a small but strained smile. “Well, it definitely needs to be brushed, I’ll tell you that” she says as she reaches for the brush. Adora turns it over in her hands and looks at it skeptically before she puts it back in its drawer. Catra watches in confusion as she searches through the rest of the drawers before she finds what she’s looking for.

Adora stands behind her again, this time holding a fine toothed comb. She holds the upper part of Catra’s hair, placing the comb on the ends, and Catra squeezes her eyes shut in anticipation of the pain. To her surprise, there is none. She feels a slight tug, but it’s nothing compared to the sharp pain from before. She opens her eyes slightly, curious. Behind her, Adora is combing the ends of her hair in short strokes, slowly progressing from the ends to the root of her hair. This takes longer than she would have anticipated, but the pain is incredibly minimal. There are slightly sharper pains here and there, for which Adora apologizes each time, but they are few and far between. Adora seems incredibly concentrated on the task, only pausing when she gets to a particularly large tangle.

Before long, Catra’s hair is almost completely free of tangles. Adora puts the comb down and instead starts running her fingers through Catra’s hair, making sure she hasn’t missed anything. Her hair is still very curly, but it looks much less messy and unkempt. Catra closes her eyes and savors the feeling of Adora’s hands in her hair. She allows herself to exhale, relieved at having her hair back to a style closer to what she prefers. Adora’s hands leave her hair, and she opens her eyes in surprise. Adora puts her hands on the sides of Catra’s head and pulls back, planting a kiss on Catra’s forehead.

“There, that looks a lot better” Adora says, moving Catra’s head so she’s looking in the mirror again. Catra runs her fingers through her hair and slowly smiles at her reflection. Adora leans down slightly and puts her arms around Catra’s shoulders, also smiling at her reflection. In a burst of energy, Catra turns as she stands and tackles Adora to the floor. They fall laughing, tangled in each other’s arms. Adora moves so she’s hovering over her and Catra puts her arms around her shoulders, pulling her down for a kiss. Adora giggles against her mouth, and Catra pushes at her shoulders. She frowns playfully, but Adora just rolls her eyes at her.

Catra folds her arms over her chest and pretends to pout. Adora rolls her eyes again. “What? What did I do?” She says with a smile in her voice. Catra can’t help but smile back at her as she says, “you already forgot about your promise?”

Adora looks at her in confusion. “You said that if I let you brush my hair that I could do yours. Unless you were lying to me” Catra says with a smirk, knowing Adora will take the bait. To her surprise, Adora pulls her up by the shoulders so they’re both in a sitting position and turns so her back is facing Catra. “I don’t think it needs it, but you’re welcome to if you want” Adora says as she takes her hair down. Catra smiles and begins running her hands through Adora’s hair as she feels herself start to purr unconsciously. Catra feels more content than she has in months and she relishes the feeling of trust and love from the woman sitting before her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd take a break from my longer fic for some good old domesticity. I imagine Catra has really similar hair to mine if a little curlier, and these are a lot of the struggles I'm having growing out my hair again.  
> I really thought this was gonna be a short fic, like less than 1000 words, but here we are folks.  
> Come say hi on my [tumblr](https://katertran.tumblr.com/)!


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